When Summit County leaders nearly doubled the cost of dog tags this year, they predicted that fewer owners would license their pets in protest.

They were right.

Through Thursday, 32,630 licenses had been sold, compared with 42,234 last year.

''It's extremely disappointing,'' said Craig Stanley, county director of administrative services, which oversees the animal shelter. ''We can do so many things for our animals if we had the money. . . .

''The more funds that come in, the more we can do to try to find homes and keep the animals healthy.''

The deadline to get a license is Tuesday. But county leaders don't expect a last-minute swarm of applications or the new licenses normally obtained during the remainder of the year to boost the numbers to last year's total.

The silver lining for county leaders is that the new $14 license fee is generating more money this year. So far, $456,820 has been collected for tags from individuals, as opposed to kennel licenses.

The county boosted the cost of a license and other fees at the shelter to try to raise enough money to pay for the animal control operation through userfees instead of relying on general taxpayer funds.

Stanley said the county will be more aggressive this year in tracking down unlicensed animals.

County Councilman Tim Crawford said the county needs to involve park rangers, veterinarians and rescue groups more to push licensing.

The owner of any dog caught without a license must pay double the license fee and can be cited in court, where court costs alone can amount to more than $100.

''It's cheaper to buy a dog license than it is to be fined,'' Crawford said.

According to a Beacon Journal analysis earlier this year, nearly 100,000 unlicensed dogs live in the county and the community has one of the worst compliance rates for dog owners among urban counties in the state.

State law requires dog owners to get new licenses each year. But only about 30 percent complied last year in Summit.

Only Cuyahoga and Hamilton counties, with 24 percent and 28 percent, respectively, had worse rates among the largest Ohio counties. Lucas County had the best at 55 percent.

License locations

Licenses can be purchased at the county Fiscal Office at 1030 E. Tallmadge Ave. in Akron or at 16 neighborhood locations: